Discovery Call

consultative selling

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5 Consultative Selling Techniques for Today’s Buyers

What is consultative selling?

Consultative selling is about helping buyers solve real business challenges, not just walking them through your product or sales process. It means asking better questions, listening for what actually matters, and guiding the buyer to the right decision.

It’s less about pitching and more about understanding, advising, and adding value in every conversation.

Simple enough, right?

Here’s the problem: Most sales teams think they’re already doing this.

They ask a few questions. They check a few boxes. Then they move into their pitch or demo and call it “consultative.” Let’s be clear… that’s not consultative selling. That’s qualification with better branding.

And buyers feel the difference.

what customers want

Today’s buyers are tougher to reach, harder to impress, and quicker to disengage. They’re researching solutions before they ever talk to sales. By the time they do, they already know the basics and expect you to bring insight, not information. Add in AI flooding their inbox with “personalized” outreach, and generic discovery and follow-up are easier than ever to ignore.

Consultative selling still works. But the old version doesn’t.

If your calls are focused on your process instead of their situation, if your demo looks the same every time, or if your follow-up sounds like everyone else’s, you’re not standing out. You’re blending in.

The good news? This is fixable.

Here are five ways to modernize your consultative selling so your conversations actually move deals forward.

WATCH: 5 Ways to Modernize Your Consultative Selling

1. Stop confusing qualification with consultative selling

This is where most teams get it wrong.

They think if they ask about budget, timeline, current setup, and decision criteria, they’re being consultative. You’re not. You’re qualifying. And listen, qualification matters. You need it. But if that’s the entire conversation, it feels transactional.

Buyers don’t want to sit through a checklist. They want someone who understands what’s actually going on in their business. Their situation, yes. But more importantly, their challenges.

Let’s be honest for a second. If your SDR calls are two minutes long, or your reps are jumping from surface-level questions straight into next steps, you’re not being consultative. If your AEs get to a second call and still don’t understand the business problem, you’ve already lost ground.

Not consultative

Consultative selling starts with understanding the situation and the challenge, not just gathering qualification data. When you get that right, everything else gets easier. When you don’t, the rest of the deal is built on assumptions.

2. Meet buyers where they are, not where your process starts

Your sales process is not the buyer’s priority.

Buyers today are doing their homework before they ever talk to you. They’re using AI, reading reviews, comparing vendors, and forming opinions early. By the time they show up, they’re often already well into their decision.

Buying vs. sales process

And then we reset them.

We run the same discovery. The same demo. The same sequence we’ve always used. It’s frustrating, and it slows the deal down.

Instead, ask a better question early: “Tell me where you are in your process.”

That question gives you immediate context. You understand how far along they are, what they’ve already evaluated, and what they still need. From there, your job is to guide them, not restart them.

Here’s the thing. Buyers may know more than they used to, but they still don’t know how to buy your solution the right way. That’s where consultative selling shows up. Not in controlling the process, but in helping them navigate it.

3. Ask better consultative selling questions before you pitch anything

The number one mistake in consultative selling is premature pitching.

We’ve all done it. You hear something that sounds familiar, connect a few dots, and jump into solution mode. It feels efficient. It feels helpful. It’s not.

When you pitch too early, you’re guessing. And when you guess wrong, you lose trust.

Most reps think they’re asking good questions, but a lot of those questions don’t actually move the deal forward. They check a box, lead into a pitch, or stay too high-level to uncover anything meaningful.

Good consultative questions go deeper. They uncover what’s happening right now, what’s not working, and what the impact of that problem really is. They clarify what success looks like and what matters most to the buyer.

And this is the part most people miss…

It’s not just about what they need. It’s about what they value.

Time. Money. Ease. Risk. Reputation. Control.

Factor 8 SWIIFT 6

If you don’t know which one matters most, you can’t position your solution in a way that actually lands. You’ll fall back on features and functions instead of real benefits.

Questions aren’t a step before the pitch. They’re what make the pitch relevant.

4. Use AI to improve your consultative selling, not replace it

AI is everywhere in sales right now. Reps are using it for emails, research, call summaries, and forecasting. Buyers are using it too, which means the bar is higher.

If you’re using AI to create generic outreach or surface-level prep, you’re just adding to the noise. Buyers can spot it instantly.

The better move is to use AI to prepare smarter before the conversation.

Ask it what challenges your target industry is dealing with right now. Ask for strong discovery questions based on your ICP. Ask what buyers at different stages of the process care about most.

AI sales research

Now you’re walking into the conversation with context and intention.

That’s where AI actually helps consultative selling. It makes you more prepared. It does not make you more consultative on its own.

Because AI can’t listen. It can’t adapt. It can’t build trust in real time.

That part is still on you.

5. Make every follow-up part of the consultative experience

“Just checking in.”

We’ve got to retire it.

If your follow-up doesn’t add value, it’s getting ignored. Modern consultative selling doesn’t stop after the call. It shows up in every touchpoint.

Every follow-up should help the buyer think, decide, or move forward.

That could look like:

  • Sharing a relevant insight or trend
  • Sending a recap with clear next steps
  • Providing a case study tied to their challenge
  • Asking a question that moves their thinking forward
  • Offering a resource that helps them avoid a mistake

consultative nurture touches

If it doesn’t do one of those things, it’s noise.

And buyers don’t have time for noise anymore.

A simple rule to keep in mind… if your outreach doesn’t add value, don’t send it.

DOWNLOAD: 20 Value-Add Reasons to Call Your Customers

What is the biggest mistake in consultative selling?

The biggest mistake in consultative selling is pitching too early before fully understanding the buyer’s situation, challenges, and priorities.

When reps rush to solution mode, they skip the part that actually builds trust and relevance. That’s where deals stall, or disappear entirely.

Here’s the main takeaway

Consultative selling isn’t about asking more questions. It’s about asking better ones.

It’s not about slowing the process down. It’s about helping buyers make sense of it faster. And it’s definitely not about sounding polished while running the same play you’ve used for years.

Today’s buyers want someone who can understand their situation, guide them through decisions, and actually add value in every interaction.

If your team can do that, you’re not just being consultative.

You’re being useful.

And that’s what closes deals now.

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discovery call questions

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4 Steps to Asking Better Sales Discovery Call Questions

Prospecting discovery is drastically different from pipeline discovery. If you’re selling something new and you’re leading with the standard exploratory questions that everyone else already Googled, you’re probably not getting through #5 on your list of top ten questions. Stop getting shut down on your BDR, SDR, AE, ISR, Acquisition (really, any new prospect) calls!

The key is to stop focusing on the benefits of your solution and start thinking about what motivates human beings. Because nobody likes change for change’s sake. We NEED motivation!

READ: 5 Questions You Should Never Ask on a Sales Discovery Call

If my cell phone provider called me right now with a better plan or phone that cost nothing more, I wouldn’t change. Why? Because changing phones or plans is a thorn in my side. Changing your grocery store sucks, new apps frustrate me, even changing lanes is a hassle. How often do you change the route you drive for fun? Bought Toyota for decades? On your third Labradoodle? Human beings resist change. It’s a fact. 

Just because you have something awesome, it doesn’t mean I’ll lift a finger to get it. That includes listening to you, learning more, attending a demo, or giving you five more minutes.

So what will motivate someone not expecting your call to consider giving you their most precious resource (time) to learn about something they haven’t thought once about in the past month? 

PAIN motivates change.

Only, not the pain everyone else is talking about. Discomfort or dissatisfaction is just one of four ways to get the meeting. And it isn’t the most successful. Let’s dig in.

  1. Problem: they have a challenge you can solve (normal pain)
  2. Avoiding disaster: there’s a challenge coming and you can prevent it (top motivator)
  3. Improve life: Your solution makes their life easier, better, or gives that appearance
  4. Newness: It’s all about the FOMO with these folks

Let’s take a look at each for a moment. Join me in thinking about PAIN in a whole new way! 

Problem: We all have business challenges and goals, but we don’t start actively looking for solutions until it really hurts or someone has given us a deadline. Sure, I could save on electricity costs with an AC tune-up, but it doesn’t HURT until the unit is broken, I get an outrageous bill, or my spouse tells me to get it fixed or sleep outside. So, the seller’s job when it comes to a problem is to:

  1. Make it hurt more
  2. Sell the relief
  3. Push a deadline
  4. Show pending disaster (check out A: Avoiding disaster)

We do this with smart discovery questions about costs, timelines, potential disasters, and a better life on the other side. Find the root and push on it a bit. For example, if I spend $200 / month on electricity and a new unit could save me 10%, I’m not terribly motivated by a mythical $20. But if you find out my highest bill, and make it an annual number, I am wasting over $600 a year! Maybe I’d love to not worry about cranking it down a few extra degrees this summer and not spending a dime more. What if my unit is already twelve years old and the average only lasts ten? What happens to my pets, my kids, my candles, and my marriage when we spend a week without AC in July? Find the right path and venture down it one question at a time.

Avoiding Disaster: Penalties, losses, or threats are widely cited as human beings’ biggest motivator. (Really, the threat of losing $1000 beats the chance of winning $1000 every time). So how can we do that in sales? Our questions uncover the plan for the future and help prospects see the very real threat of loss. Most units go out in July and August, what’s the high temp in my area? Have I had any experience with this in the past? Maybe a horror story or two? Any kids or pets to worry about? Surely a fifteen-minute appointment or other low-cost tune-up is worth avoiding the serious health threats and expense of a unit that quits during the Memorial Day BBQ…

Improve Life: This is my #1 winner. I’m a working mom desperate to save some time or make things easier. Maybe you can help me make more money? Help me look good to my boss? Enjoy my commute? Love coming to work? Sell it, sister, how do you make me happier? If you’re a student of Factor 8’s SWIIFT℠, nearly all the business values play here. Smart sellers ask questions about the current state, what I like, what I don’t, and how it could be better. They paint pictures of the future utopia and help me see an immediate and big benefit in exchange for a short meeting. 

Newness: These seekers are easy. They just can’t help but kick some tires on new technology. I think they’re looking for what’s newer while standing in line at the Apple store. So use your questions to find out if they’re a bleeding edger or late adopter and dangle some newness. It’s as easy as, “Have you seen the new ______?” You’ll know when they jump on the line.

READ: How Pipeline and Prospect Discovery Questions Are Different

Remember, the goal of a prospect call is to find one raised corner on an otherwise smooth surface. Just enough of an edge that you can use questions to pry up the corner a little and get the meeting. If you’re leading with your product benefits, you’re banking to close only the people literally searching for your product right now. Every few hundred calls and you’ll get one. Quadruple your chances by also looking for the rest of the PAIN with the folks avoiding disaster, seeking improvement, or loving newness. 

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Prospect Discovery Questions

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How Pipeline and Prospect Discovery Questions Are Different

Sales discovery questions are drastically different from pipeline discovery questions. In fact, you should never use pipeline questions with a prospect. 

Why? Because prospects are somewhere between cold and lukewarm. They’re not eager to be there and they’ve made no commitments about their time nor attention. Therefore prospect questions are being asked on tight timelines and to someone resistant to being sold. It’s like throwing balls at someone with their eyes closed and getting them to catch one in under thirty seconds (be clear, they don’t want to play).

Pipeline discovery is with someone who has already agreed to a meeting and shown some level of willingness to learn more. We’re talking lukewarm to hot. OK, now we have a shot of really playing some catch! We’ve booked 30-60 minutes and they’ve agreed to play ball! 

So how should we change our discovery questions accordingly? Let’s stay in our game. If you have a minute to win it by getting a “catch” with an unwilling participant, lob easy balls that aren’t too painful when they hit – like ping pong balls. Fast, light, not too painful. 

A willing catch partner will tolerate something weightier like a baseball, basketball, or even a bowling ball! They’re ready to catch and they may even be impressed with the ball you throw. 

Wait. What? A bowling ball question? Yeah, you know, the big ones. “What’s it costing you to leave this unsolved?” or “What’s the worst-case scenario if this goes wrong?” The heavy stuff.

Prospect ping pong questions are light, easy, and non-threatening. Some are probably your sales qualification questions. Their short answer, rote answer, and easy answer. “How many reps do you have?” “What are you using now?” “What do you like about it?” “I can handle these no problem!”

Ever seen the guys in airports trying to sell travel credit cards from a kiosk? Most of them are yelling benefits like “10,000 free miles!” or “Free travel!” It’s not unlike most sellers. They’re billboarding instead of engaging. They could (and maybe should) literally be replaced by a sign. A sign may actually do better because we’re not afraid of being pitched by a sign.

Wouldn’t they do better if they asked engaging questions and got us into a conversation instead? Ping pong questions like, “Fun trip or work trip today?” “Headed to the beach?” “Is today the Hawaii trip!?” 

These are non-threatening, right? Maybe they’re obvious (is she wearing vacation clothes?) or even funny (is he wearing a suit?). Point is, they get me to answer, maybe even smile. I’d lower my defenses and engage. Now you follow up with a better question like, “Where do you WISH you were going?” or “So, what’s next on the bucket list?” and now I’m in a conversation about desired travel. Soon we’ll be swapping stories and practically smelling the coconut oil…

Now if they threw bowling balls they wouldn’t get too far. Questions like, “What’s the APR on your current card!?” “How many free trips did you earn last year?” “Would you like to earn free miles on every flight?” OK, maybe these aren’t as heavy as bowling, but each requires some thought on my part, right? Each screams sales pitch coming!?

Ping pongs are non-threatening, non-sales questions. Perfect for prospecting.

Bowling balls are obvious sales questions and/or cost me more effort to answer. Yuck.

So stop leading with the bowling balls friends! If you’re a student of Factor 8’s SWIIFT℠ Intro, you’ll remember that the secret sauce is the SWIIFT℠ Questions at the end. These closed questions get prospects talking before they realize it and now you’re on first base with a conversation. NOW you graduate up to baseballs for second base and round home with the bowling balls. Admittedly my metaphors need work. 

So reframe how you approach prospecting discovery. Prospecting questions have 3 very clear goals:

  1. Get me talking
  2. Make a connection and build some rapport 
  3. Find a teeny tiny edge (P.A.I.N – problems, avoidance, improvements, and newness) 

Pipeline questions have very clear goals as well:

  1. Find a need, challenge, or opportunity to improve
  2. Uncover what the customer’s values are
  3. Prove I can be a match better than others

Pipeline questions will dig deeply into priorities, challenges, preferences, competition, and experiences. These are not going to help someone with their eyes closed decide to play ball with you. Unless they’re actively looking for your solution right now, your superbly crafted pipeline questions will simply guarantee I keep my head down and rush for my flight. So keep it light and save pipeline questions for pipeline prospects.

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5 Questions You Should Never Ask on a Sales Discovery Call

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5 Questions You Should Never Ask on a Sales Discovery Call

You’ve probably heard me say this before: Prospect discovery and pipeline discovery are two VERY different meetings. And, the questions you ask on a sales discovery call are MUCH different from those you ask in pipeline discovery. If you’re not adamantly nodding your head in agreement, go and read about the difference right here.

If we can agree that prospect discovery should feel light and focus on building rapport, you’ll also agree that we want to stay away from your typical discovery questions. All we need to do is find an edge, right? A hint of P.A.I.N., not deep actual pain. 

So here are five questions you can ditch immediately and NEVER ask in a sales discovery call (warning, you were probably taught to ask all of these in training).

  1. What isn’t working about your current solution?
  2. What is keeping you up at night?
  3. If you had a magic wand, how would you fix it?
  4. What do you think not solving this is costing you?
  5. How does picking the right solution impact you?

Yes, if you Google, “10 best sales discovery call questions” you’ll see every one of these. So why am I hating? Because nobody wants to get into this with you right now. This isn’t a scheduled pipeline call, it’s a prospect call. They don’t necessarily HAVE a defined problem, and you asking more about it and what it’s costing them personally and professionally is just funny – and more than a little irritating. 

Here are a few to try instead.

  1. What are you using today for XYZ? (your category here)
  2. What do you like about it? (finding likes, needs)
  3. What drew you to it? (finding challenges they’re solving)
  4. Any issues at all with 123? (likelihood of falling into potential pitfalls)
  5. Have you seen the new ABC? (insert cool related tech here [not necessarily yours] to test for newness)

Each of these map to the P.A.I.N. questions for prospect discovery. Each is designed to find a tiny edge you might be able to flip up into a full-blown need on the next call. Remember, the goal of the prospect discovery is NOT to collect fruit that has already fallen from the tree – those are pipeline calls (they have a need, they’ve found you, let’s talk about fit). Prospecting calls are when we’re climbing the tree looking for fruit that will be ripe soon. The most important thing you can do is not be pushed out of the tree! Back your questions off and just look for fruit.

Important: These questions should be asked in a light and positive tone. I’m not searching for what’s wrong, I’m asking genuine questions about your likes and dislikes and I’m learning with a curious and open mind about your situation, the market, and the competitive landscape. What I’m NOT doing is looking for a chance to wedge in my pitch, outsell who you’re using, or impress you with my better features. Remember, this is a connection conversation. If I learn about you authentically, don’t badmouth the competition, and present no threat of a hard sell then I’m just a nice person having a great conversation and I’ve moved from probable distrust into conditional trust. 

That gets “yesses” to the next meeting.

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prospecting

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How the Hell Do I Prospect Right Now? Part 2

In part 1, we talked about call planning.  I hope you’ll check it out here as your outreach depends on getting to the right people with the right questions.

Outreach

So let’s talk about the outreach call, email, or social media message? 

Written

My advice: keep it short, zero sales, and very human.  Lead with humanity, the desire to help, and an eagerness to learn and talk.  Not pitch.  I dare you to craft a message that has nothing at all to do with you and everything to do with them.  I’ve replied to messages who even say that it’s a strange time to reach out, even those who vaguely apologize for doing so.  I haven’t replied to a single three-paragraph value prop. 

Voicemail

Ask yourself what calls you’ve returned in the past few weeks. Company I’ve been dodging for months to sell online credentials – hard pass. In fact, I’ve eye-rolled at the message as he and I both know damn well I should have been segmented to the bottom (read about segmenting and more planning in part 1 here)

FedEx account rep who was sorry to bother but thought she could save me some money – yes. Even called her during “I’m on kids” time and talked for fifteen minutes.

We have four simple strategies that work better than any other I’ve seen for getting a call back (watch more here) but the key is to customize these even further with empathy.  During these times I recommend you downplay the “mystery and urgency” approach and lean more on the “value or lever” approaches.  Let your message show that you know who they are and you get their situation.  A few lines I like to get you started:

“I’ve been thinking about you and wondering how you and your team are doing”

“What a crazy time to call…or maybe crazier NOT to call…but I do hope you’ll call me back…”

“You may not be taking sales calls, but if you’ll give me five minutes, I might be able to save you some money right now / make things easier right now.  Anyway, I’d really appreciate it…”

“I understand you won’t be going to XYZ conference anymore this summer with person A and person B, could we talk about that…”

Call

Same with our opening call.  How are you doing?  How is your business doing?  How are your people doing?  These are your go-to questions right now, and people want to answer them (a year ago I told folks to ditch the “how are you?”).

Keep the rapport building and empathy section of your call long and strong.  A quick pivot into exploring for sales opportunities starts to smell.  Want to build the fastest rapport?  Get real and share your side as well.  Skip the pat, “Hanging in there…it’s the new normal.”  If you want to connect, share something real.  What are you struggling with?  For me it’s managing homeschooling and not drinking every day.  It’s a little personal and a lot real and it builds fast connections with virtual strangers.

Now is the time to be 100% human.

Not an employee.  Not a rep.  Not a brand.  Be you.  And enjoy it.  Connecting with people is probably a big reason you got into sales in the first place.  If you achieve nothing else but a fifteen-minute rapport-building session at a personal level, you’ve achieved a lot.  Be willing to leave it there.  In the wise words of my friend Colleen Stanley, author of Emotional Intelligence for Sales Leadership: Ask yourself if your prospecting effort demonstrates that you get their world right now.  It’s the perfect litmus test.

Disco Anyone?

If you’re lucky enough to go further and you’re in a discovery call, lead with learning.  Understanding how your customers and prospects are approaching their business and lives gives you great stories to share with the rest of your prospects.  I want to know:

1.       How are sales?

2.       How are they serving their customers?

3.       What are the biggest challenges?

4.       Any hiring or layoffs?

5.       Any new markets or approaches?

6.       Any changes to the tools they are using?

7.       How has their leadership approached this?

8.       Have they had to change or cancel plans?

9.       Are budgets frozen?

10.   What are the top priorities right now?

And that’s just getting started.  These answers will not only help you connect but even change your approach as needed. 

Tell Stories

Even better, if you’re leading with learning in discovery, you’re collecting stories to tell others that can help other prospects and even yourself (XYZ company is actually hiring right now because….spending right now because….buying software because…)  Storytelling is key right now – right up there with empathy.

You are providing a service by doing some cross-pollination.  What is the flowerbed over there doing?  How about our competition?  What are you hearing that’s real and not either fake news or LinkedIn fluff?

And the Pitch!

Finally, if you’re in a position to pitch something, very carefully lead with value – and customized value to the situation (you planned this above!).  You’re not just convincing people why to do business with you, it’s why to do business with you RIGHT NOW.

May I also be so bold as to recommend a backup.  If you pitch the sale, be prepared with an offer.  I’m offering discounts, payment plans, and delayed payments.  I’m trial closing for next month or quarter when this doesn’t work.  Help people who want to say yes to do it or to sell it internally right now.

I hope you grabbed some nuggets in the above.  Take “lead with empathy” to a new level with your planning, your outreach, your discovery, and your pitch.  Note what’s working, cross-pollinate stories, and set yourself up to love your sales day rather than feeling (and smelling) like failure.  Harsh…but fair.

It’s time you guys.  Let’s get after this together.

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